Dobara – Maahir turning into a subtly toxic husband, Mehru still bemoaning her lack of authority in her own household, Affan unhappy, unsettled yet carrying on, Manaal, oh dear Manaal. Manaal seems to have retired from the game midway.
Dobara started off with a promising narrative. Let’s try and throwback to what we thought we’d see. Older woman marrying younger man = a love story breaking stereotypes, redefining norms and yes, a very unconventional romance!
What We Get So Far?
A story that wavers between challenging single parenthood, a second marriage to a man who’s more of a fortune seeker (exactly as society had predicted), I can hear all the aunties and uncles waving their finger and saying ‘dekhaaaa‘! Ibtisam say shaadi kar leti toh you would have got a good soul, all the freedom in the world, and your son too!
Hmmm, and Ibtisam had an endearing side to him, you gotta admit Javed Sheikh played it well. His parting gift, of getting the two ‘not so in love’ birds married was a feat and a half in the face of Durdana phuppo! Oh yes, Ibtisam could stand up to Phuppo and Irfan and be mildly acceptable to Manaal too.
So Now What Do We Have?
Mehru has followed her heart’s desire (in having her cake and eating it too) – ahem, our dear, shady Maahir. But she doesn’t know that the cake is slightly spoilt?
Here’s What’s Irking Dobara Viewers
The story is at a standstill. Not just that but the scenes, script and dialogues lack a deep emotional quotient we crave to experience. Affan and Mehru – mother and son need to have a heart to heart. They might argue, scry, yell at each other, but we need a heartfelt conversation between the two. We want to see the hurt souls in both their personas manifest themselves in one or two soul stirring, cathartic scenes. They have both crossed a mountain, Mehru is shaken, rightly so, but so is Affan, however we were, once again, treated to a repetitive argument we’ve seen play out many times earlier … and with no conclusion. Perhaps events could have moved faster with a Maahir-Affan face off at the workplace?
Then we have the couple in question. Mehru and Maahir have failed to take their ‘meet in the park’ romance to the next level. In between the conspiracies ( phuppo and Seher are warming up). We want to see a growing bond between these two, that goes past serving soup and breakfast conversations. This bonding is not just critical to give us romantic feels (a now extinct Pakistani drama insert) but also to save them when things go south, which they will. It is this romance that they will have to turn to when they lose hope and doubt each other. It is this romance that will redeem Maahir in our eyes, the viewers, that will perhaps, make Maahir have a change of heart, and Mehru too. It is this Romance that will add the flourish to Dobara, and hopefully, the flair to a drama that showcases the fab and never seen together pair of Hadiqa Kiani and Bilal Abbas … will they, eventually be wasted in the narrative, or is there a flicker of hope yet?
For those who are hoping on the romance, go take a look at the promo posters of Dobara. They promised so much more, just like Usman Mukhtar in Sabaat – will it really fizzle down to a diluted love story? You tell me!
Let’s hope we spoke too soon and the drama surprises!
A disappointed Dobara fan!
